Cougars Jones drafted in 8th round by Colorado

Washington State University outfielder Derek Jones was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the eighth round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft Tuesday.Jones was the 10th pick in the round and the 258th selection overall. The Snohomish, Wash., native was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round last summer, but elected to return for his senior season in Pullman. He was the second Cougar selected Tuesday after the Seattle Mariners drafted first baseman Taylor Ard a round earlier.

An All-Pac-12 Conference honoree in 2012, Jones is the highest Cougar outfielder drafted since Jason Grove in the third round of the 2000 Draft by the New York Yankees. He leaves Washington State as the Cougar career record holder in home runs with 41. Jones ranks on the Washington State all-time list in total bases (third, 414), RBI (fifth, 164), runs (ninth, 164) and hits (10th, 227).

As a senior, Jones batted a team-leading .335 with 17 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 45 RBI and 11 stolen bases (in 13 attempts). He is currently among the Pac-12 leaders this season in slugging percentage (fourth. .574), on-base percentage (fifth, .438), walks (tied-sixth, 31), home runs (tied-sixth), total bases (tied-seventh, 120), doubles (tied-seventh), and stolen bases (tied-ninth). In addition, he received All-Pac-12 Academic honorable mention.

In 2011, Jones batted .275 with eight home runs and 33 RBI. He collected 11 doubles, two triples and scored 39 runs. In conference play, he batted .317 with 14 extra-base hits, including a team-best five home runs, and knocked in 18. He was named All-Pac-10 honorable mention for the second-straight season.

As a sophomore in 2010, Jones led the Cougars to their second-straight NCAA postseason appearance by batting .309 with a team-best 12 home runs, 49 RBI and a .581 slugging percentage.

In 2009, Jones tied the Cougar freshman record with 12 home runs. He also ranks on Washington State's all-time freshman list in walks (second, 31), RBI (fourth, 37), games started (fourth, 57), games (tied-fifth, 57), at bats (sixth, 202), total bases (tied-sixth, 91) and slugging percentage (10th, .450). He was All-Pac-10 honorable mention and a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.

Jones is the fourth Cougar to be selected by the Rockies, joining catcher Eric Wulff (1992), pitcher James Freeman (2005) and third baseman Matt Argyropoulos (2011).